Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1887-01-20

CASTLE working for second aud third
grade certificates. The teachers Of
Sussex will be examined at Georyetown
aud seaford the first Saturday ia Feb
ruary. These changes wera necessary,
following tho dates Of the Wilmington
Teachers Institute
After a recess, DR.. Rsub spoke. lie aaid
that language lessons that do not lead 10
exact understanding Of Language are use
less. Critics, in an important eebsa. are
wrong who assert that the object of Eng
lish grammar is solely to speak and write
our language correctly. 1 think more
important point is to understand it, per-
haps it is the most important part. We
must have with our syntax more or less OF
analysis. The latter must agree with
parsing, and parsiBg with aily-
sis. The speaker would always
i teach the two In combination. For sew
eral years, he said, found myself unnble.
TO teach the subject Of the transitive verb.
In settling n grammatical qnes-
tion ho would consult all the
grainmsrs he could get. A Chicago
man is accused of having 1900
in his library. DR.. Ranb discussed the
subject Of the apostrophe ia very inter-
esting matter. In regard TO the almost
universal mis-spelling Of the word ''a'n't,n
| Commonly ain't), he said that tho most
4 carefully edited magazines, such as the
Century, ScYi5ner, Christian Union and
others differ with dictionary use
Superintendent Harlan said there WAS
a most important question to be settled
tonight, namely Whether the nta.s insti-
tute should be held in Wilmington or
elsewhere in the county. The citizens, il
| they wish the institute held heFa must
aid us with their fifty cent pieces, and at
tend the evening entertainments. The
| expense is more than the State Superin-
tendent can bear out of his own pocket.
TheEState appropriation Is entirely inade-
/ quate for the expense Of an institute in
Wilmington. Mr.. Harlan spoke Of length
upon the subject Of psychology. He said
| reading circle should be formed here.
| Sully's handbook upon that subject is TO
he recommended.
There were many visitors at the morn
ing session, including members of the
State Legislature and the city Board of
/ Education. It was announced that mes
sage had been received from the Clayton
House that DR.. French had sufficiently
recovered to be present at this afternoon
session. Mr.. Harlan stated that 80 per
cent of the city teachers were present,
and Superintendent Williams stated that
over 80 of the county teachers had en-
rolled themselves.
The hymn, ''Battle Ground Of the Re-
public WAS then sung, Superintendent
Williams announced the programme of
the evening, which includes the enter
tainment by the Boston Star company.
| Adjournment was then made to 2 o'clock
| in the afternoon.
The afternoon session opened at o clock.
An Introductory hymn was sung when
| Superintendent Williams introduced DR..
Raub OF Newark, who took up the subject
/ of etymology.
He said that the photography OF words
terminating in table" and "ible" depended
| for correct spelling upon their Latin root.
| Iu talking upon the question OF whether
| any certain word was OF adverb or adjective
afflnities the leader placed the following
| sentence upon the blackboard 1.-The
| fainting child lay motionless upon the
floor" The question In this case was TO de-
| eide upon the classification OF "motionless"
| what did 1t modify2 1t was left to the
teachers TO decide. There was q great d.
| vergepey of opinion upon 1t, but DIR. Raub
left it to the teachers to investigate, and
added the following puzzles TO the one
| above: He runs like deer;" he sings
| like ii nightingale;' "You are like (me or
| y; che looks like (me or d.; the question
In thi4 case being is ''lilSe" proper word,
or should "as" be substituted, and also what
is tho proper term ''me" or IL" In the lust
/ sentences.
In the last questions there was a stormy
and interesting difference of opinion, which
| DIR. Raub seemed specially to enjoy. The
speaker gave slight bent OF help upon the
'me' or "I' problem, by reminding the
audience of Deau Tranchs opinion, and
also that OF Dean Stanley.
In reference to the fact that the Engllsh
| grammar used In our city schools Is written
| by DR.. Raub, 1t was Interesting to note a
query by one of the New Castle county
teachers, who asked the leader how 1t was
that he made adverbs of "a" "an," and
"the". DR.. Raub said, 'We parse accord
ing to the meaning or application Of the
| word. have seem" he continued, ''the
word what made verb Of" ''How on
earth can that be doneP said one Of the
| audience whose tone In making the remark
| indicated In an amusing manner his opinion
of the audacity of such an assertion. "oh,"
said Dr.. Raub, quietly, did you never hear
O mother who, receiving such an answer
from her tnattentive or careless enlld, as
WHAT did you sayP, reply impatiently,
| I'll what you." [Great laughter.l After
/ introducing number OF the most trouble
some grammatical technicalIties and
serenely decapitating them, he closed by
| asserting that there Is no necessity OF
making grammar Il difficult study.
Prof. Frye OF Boston then followed In
very interesting comment upon the subject
| OF the "Relation of History and Geography"
He said 1t Is possible to take only a few
| Illustrations In such broad question. He
i treated upon the movements of nations in
relation TO geographical relief. Prof Frye
| adYerted to the instance of the distribution
| or swarmtng Of hordes from the high table
| land of BAmir east and west, inundating
Europe on the one hand and China on the
other. He illustrated how certain eonti-
mental reliefs unconsciously guided the
movements of these hordes. Their first
descent and easiest was Of course upon the
valley drained by the Euphrates and Tigrls,
that OF Mesopotamia. The lecturer did
not consider It absolutely necessary to fol-
low the demarcations OF Buckle or Draper,
| but generalized. Prof. Frye showed how these
| incursions spread fan-like along the Medl-
terranean and how that ranges of high
mountains barred access to countries SO
| protected by nature. The Himalayehs,
Balkans, Alps, Carpathians and PyTenees
In turn defined this fact. The Moors find
ing Europe inaccessible at Constantinople
diverged to the North African route. There
| were two great movements that of theshep-
herd nomads and the agricultural class
| who settled along the Mediterranean and
| founded civilized nations. Theirs were fixed
| houses; with their families around them
they became social, formed communities,
| built towns and churches. In Mesopotamia
the attraction was naturally the rich spon-
l ".
peninsula in the midst ofAfrican sand. Five
| centuries previous to Roman civilization
| EgyTt had arrived at the hight OF ctylliza-
| zion. Palestine was another instance. Sail
across the Hgean you find Greece Isolated
| by its relief arriving at the highest culture
China hy its great wall has been free from
an excess Of incur5ion and succeeded in
| gaining u reasonable advance. The Moors
i crossed at Gibraltar and were opposed by
| Charles Martel; they battered away also at
| the Balkan obstruction and were only sue
cessfully withstood by John Sobieski. The
Dutch struggle In their fowlands was pri-
mar'ly against the encroachmants of the
sea. The continual threat inspired them with
racial effort which subsequently advaniaged
them in their wars with Alva. Dutch In
dustry or we should say survivals OF II are
seen In the servant girl of that
nationality here. She Is always scrubbing
| and washing and polishing. The reason
mosphere of Holland were this not custom
ary everything would be quickly furnished
or rusty. Go back TO ATbAla. When the Per-
slams sent out their charIots to NOW down
Alexander's phalanxes the plain structure
| defeated them And again at rharmopylae
the narrow pass defeated &erxes millions
as on Marathon the level ground helped the
! Greeks At Waterloo that terrible trench
| which engulphed Neys invlneibles and be-
hlnd which the English guards lay secure,
ready TO pour tori ents Of lead into those who
| crossed IL, showed how outward relief infiu-
enees crisis. The Cheviot hills too are the
line OF demarcation between the English
and Scotch and keep sacred that contradis-
tinction as do the Grampians that
Of the Highlands and Lowlands.
I Il, UTrI-.